


memorandum non perit

by infelixsoror



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Mass Effect
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-27
Updated: 2012-03-27
Packaged: 2017-11-02 14:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infelixsoror/pseuds/infelixsoror
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The way stories spread through time is never simple. And long before anyone told the story of Shepard, she told the story of others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	memorandum non perit

_Riverside Shipyards, Iowa, Earth,  
2171  
_  
Shepard had a heatcube on her knees, one side open, and three out of five heat-chips busted beyond repair. It would really be easier to just steal a new one, but they didn’t make heatcubes like this anymore. Sighing, she reached for another strip of nichrome, maybe she could scrape off some of the impurities and-  
  
A small hand caught her arm before she could pick up the metal, tugging on her sleeve.  
  
“Tell us a story, Shep,” said Flidget.  
  
“You want heat tonight or a story?” Shepard replied. “And don’t look at me like that, Flidge, that look only works on particularly gullible tourist.”  
  
“But I told the others you’d tell us a story!”  
  
“And small children who make promises they can’t keep get used for target practice,” Shepard said, then made the mistake of looking at Flidget again. “Okay, fine! Just stop making your eyes that big, it’s not natural.”  
  
Flidget grinned, plonking himself down right in front of Shep. There was some good-natured shoving when the other kids arrived, settling themselves down in front of Shep, scrambling for good spots. There were a few faces she didn’t know; more faces meant more mouths to feed, more kids to keep as far away from Jojo as humanly possible. It meant she should really be fixing heatcubes, not telling stories to lull kids into a sleep they’d freeze to death in if she didn’t do her job right. The slightly older kids, the ones who were too old to ask for stories but young enough to listen, moved slightly, close enough to hear without making their attention obvious.  
  
“Okay, a story. A short story,” she said. She had to draw the line somewhere. “Once upon a time, there was a good and brave man and there was a woman from a fairy tale who he loved more than all the galaxy. Her love for him had made Death himself leave the soldier behind when he took so many others, and his love for her kept him at her side for a thousand years when she was trapped by their enemies in a box no man could open.”  
  
“If no man could open it,” asked a little boy, one of the ones she hadn’t seen before, with the bold confidence you only really found in kids too young to understand how bad their situation was. “How did she get out again?”  
  
“A little girl opened it,” Shepard replied. “Just because a man can’t do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. The brave soldier and his equally brave love were married and had many adventures, going to every star in the night sky. He put aside his uniform and let the battles to others. And one day, the woman with the fairy tale name realized she was going to have a baby. A beautiful, healthy baby, who they would love very much. The brave soldier had done amazing things, the woman with the fairy tale had done amazing things, and there was no doubt that their child would go on to do amazing things as well. And so an evil witch decided she wanted the child for herself and she stole the fairy tale woman and hid her away.”  
  
The kids were perfectly silent. They all knew this story, just as well as Shepard did, and they all knew how it ended. But there was always that feeling, maybe this time it’ll be different, that made it thrilling to hear again and again.  
  
“The brave soldier put his ancient armour on once again. He flew across the universe, through all time and space, speaking to all those he’d helped. _They’ve taken my family_ , he said. _Help me_. And his friends rose up with him and they stormed the evil witch’s castle. The battle was won, and the fairy tale woman was saved, but the child was lost.” Shepard swallowed. The rest of the story was easy to tell, but this part burnt like lies on her tongue. But she couldn’t not say it. These kids knew the story too well for her to ever be able to change it. “And so the brave soldier and the fairy tale woman took to the stars once again, searching for their lost child. And wherever they find a child who is hurt or afraid or alone, they help them as best they can and keeping searching. And one day they’ll find their child, and someone who thought they were all alone will find out that they’re not.”  
  
Each child would fall asleep that night thinking that maybe they were the lost child, that maybe they had a mother and father who loved them and wanted them and was tearing the universe apart in search of them. It was such a ridiculous lie that even the youngest child there knew it couldn’t possibly be true, but hope bypassed logic every time. Besides, betters stories of last centurions and girls who waited than of the kids’ real parents, the kind of spice-addled monsters who abandoned their own or, worse, sold them for more spice.  
  
“Right,” Shepard said, more sharply than she’d meant. “Bed, the lot of you. You’re going to the Docks tomorrow, remember? Stay in your groups, go for the new tourists; they won’t know your faces yet. And huddle together tonight. We don’t have enough heatcubes to go round anymore.”  
  
The kids shuffled off in small groups when she glared at them. She could hear a few of them nattering as they started to settle down, and at least one rendition of, _But you’re not pretty enough to be the missing child!_ She was already regretting telling that story. For weeks now, all she’d hear would be pleas for more stories about the Last Centurion and the Girl who Waited. Shepard had always preferred the ones about the Travelling Man.

**Author's Note:**

> The Doctor's new title (the 'Travelling Man') is borrowed from the song by Chameleon Circuit. It's available here: http://charliemcdonnell.com/music/ and is well worth a listen!


End file.
